Michael out for season with torn ACL

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M junior running back Christine Michael tore his ACL against Oklahoma and is out for the season, Aggies coach Mike Sherman said Monday.

Michael leads the team in rushing with 899 yards, and is averaging 6 yards per carry. As he did last year when Michael broke his leg in the eighth game of the season, Cyrus Gray (733 yards on 159 carries for 4.6 ypc) will take over the No. 1 role. Ben Malena will back him up.

Sherman said he anticipates Gray and Malena carrying the load at running back the rest of the way, but would pull a redshirt if necessary. That likely would be off of scat back Will Randolph, but that probably won’t be necessary with three games remaining in the regular season.

Malena, as the team’s third back, only has eight carries this season (for 52 yards). The Aggies (5-4, 3-3) play at Kansas State (7-2, 4-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC-TV.

“That’s a devastating blow to lose a player like that,” Malena said. “As a team we have to come together and pick it up.”